This is War
by simplycharmed-xo
Summary: It had been years since a true force of evil had attacked the Charmed Ones and their family, though now and then they would meet passing demons or warlocks that had wishful dreams of conquering the world. They failed, of course, and for the first time in many years, life for the Halliwells was peaceful. Until a mysterious young woman shows up with warnings of a new war. CHRIS/OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**_(A/N: This is a Charmed fanfiction set in the future. It concerns the next generation of Halliwell children and is told mostly by Chris in third person. It also contains an OC. Enjoy! ~ Marie Michaels)_**

It had been years since a big threat had tortured the Halliwells, as it should have been in their eyes. After years and years of sacrifice, they embraced all the peace and tranquility they received in their new, evil free days. There were, of course, demons and warlocks that would occasionally try a new plot to take over the world or organize the Underworld once again, but with the birth of a new generation, it seemed Good had a firm upper hand. Nowadays, the Charmed Ones needn't do anything now that their own children seemed to take over the duties.

And that was exactly what Chris Halliwell was doing with his brother and sister. His sister, Melinda, was working on a potion, being the best with mixing herbs. Wyatt had gone to speak with the Elders, hoping to find something that might have been forgotten to be put in the Book which Chris was currently flipping through. "Found it," he announced, scanning the page.

"And?" Melinda pressed, looking up from the smoking pot.

Chris closed the book. "I'm quite sure it's a Spider Demon."

His sister cocked her head to the side, a little smile dancing across her lips. "Didn't Mom once get kidnapped by a Spider Demon with you inside of her?"

"Yeah, and my alternate self got turned into one, too." he added with a shrug of his shoulders. He had been told the story many times as a child, even as he grew up. And strange enough, he had seemed to retain some of the memories, too. Faint, but he could remember them. Like the one of him punching his Dad which flashed briefly in his thoughts, making him wince.

The shining light of orbs materialized next to him, and soon solidified into his older brother Wyatt. "Well, they weren't of much help, nothing we didn't already know," he informed. "Just like you thought, Chris , a Spider Demon and they drain the life and power out of their victims."

Thinking for a moment, the middle child bit the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "Which means that the Charmed Ones have to bless the potion." Melinda nodded, grabbing the ladle and pour the freshly brewed potion into a bottle. "And a good plan to lure her out of her lair."

"What are you three doing?" their Mother had just walked into the kitchen, a basket in her arms and Wyatt instantly went to take it from her arms, but she nudged him away, muttering, "I'm fine, now what are you talking about?"

"Spider-demon!" Melinda chirped, shaking the little bottle in her hand. "We need you, Aunt Phoebe, and Aunt Paige to bless the potion I just made to vanquish it."

Their Mother put the laundry basket on the table and instead walked over to her only daughter, taking the potion that was being given to her. As always, she analyzed it before giving the girl a proud smile which was returned with a smug one of her own. "It has my blessing," she stated easily, handing it over to Wyatt. "Why don't you go orb to Aunt Phoebe first, she's at home right now."

He nodded, before leaving in a flood of lights.

Chris moved to help his Mother, though she had tried to insist beforehand she didn't need it, he didn't listen. Always the stubborn one, she would say, making him smile. "So, what's going on between you and Diana?" she asked curiously, grabbing a shirt to fold. Melinda inched closer, listening with interest.

Giving his little sister an annoyed look, he tried his best to brush off the question. "Nothing, we've just been hanging out is all."

"Do you like her?" Piper asked, to which Chris did not respond to. "You know it's nothing to be ashamed of if you have a crush on her, Chris."

He hesitated a moment, folding a pair of his jeans before he answered his Mother's question with some reluctance. He knew, however, that there'd be no getting around it. "I'm not ashamed, I'm just worried about the whole secret thing is all." he said with a sigh.

"Ah." Melinda was now helping, too, listening quietly to the exchange. Their Mother said nothing, she simply had a thoughtful look on her face as she continued to fold clothes. Finally, she said, "Don't worry about it now. You're young, Chris, only 20 years old and you've always put your duties before life. If you like this girl, take the risk or else, how will you know?"

Chris smiled gently. "Thanks, Mom."

"Don't thank me," she said with a wave of her hand, though a smile lit up her face, too. "Thank your Aunt Phoebe, she had me read her latest writings." Both children laughed at their Aunt who always got quite excited when it came to love, and especially loved to give advice on it.

It didn't take much longer for Wyatt to return with the blessed potion. Piper left the room, letting them get to their business and the neo-Charmed Ones as they jokingly called themselves worked on a plan to vanquish the Spider Demon. They were crafty things and it wouldn't be easy to save the innocent she would be coming after soon. "We just need to tempt her with something more powerful," Chris had insisted.

"Like who?" Melinda argued. "That's putting one of us in danger and plus, she could sense the rest of us."

Wyatt shook his head. "Not if we cloak ourselves, then she couldn't sense us, right?" His brother nodded slowly, adding, "Right."

Their little sister pursed her lips, unsure of the plan. "Who'll be the bait then?"

Chris raised his hand and smiled almost sarcastically. So it was decided. The middle brother would be the bait to lure out the spider, threatening to vanquish her with a different bottle while his siblings were cloaked and held the true vanquishing potions. Melinda quickly whipped up the invisibility potion that their Aunt Paige had perfected years ago. Wyatt and her took it before they left and once they had been deemed invisible, and finished playing little tricks on their brother, orbed away.

"Why can't demons ever live somewhere pretty ..." Melinda muttered softly, glancing around the creepily dark cave that they arrived in.

Her brothers mumbled their agreements as they all adjusted to the dampness and lack of light in the tunnel. Chris manifested a single, bright orb in his hand to guide them, letting it float freely above his hand. The place was dreadful, filled with spiderwebs and decayed bodies that reeked. "Come on, lets go." he whispered, taking hesitant steps further into the cave.

Being guided by the light, they could clearly see the collection of bones that the spider demon had garnered over the years. It sent a shiver down all of their spines watching sets of bones as they went in further. A sadness, too, of lost innocents, but there was nothing they could do besides avenge their spirits. Which they would do, Chris thought to himself, clutching his potion bottle in his hand tightly. He knew it would do nothing, he was only meant to be the distraction, but it brought a sense of peace over him. Peace and confidence, making him stride a little bit quicker until he reached a corner.

They could all hear her. She moaned, she was feeding and Chris resisted the urge gag. It was almost as if she took sexual pleasure in draining her victims and he knew that his siblings shared the same look as he did. Extinguishing the light before the demon could see it, he held up his hand to let Wyatt and Melinda know to wait until the demon was thoroughly distracted. Chris inched inside the cavern until he was out in open.

"Hey Spidey, having a nice dinner?" Chris taunted, a smirk pulling up on his lips as he watched that thing stiffen and quiet down, then slowly turn around with bloody red eyes. His stomach twisting itself in knots, he lifted up his potion bottle. "I suggest you don't make things worse for you than they already are."

The demon let out a low chuckle. "And you think I'm afraid of you and that little potion?" her steps to him were more like a spider's prowl and her smile was vicious. "Because I'm not, not even your family could vanquish my sister ... they had to get an ogre to do it."

"Your sister?" he sputtered, blinking. Her smile grew.

"Yes, my little sister. She was quite foolish to think that the sisters wouldn't come after your Mother and you, but I won't make that same mistake." Baring her fangs and sharp claws, and she inched closer to Chris who was beginning to panic. "Especially since you fell in my web already ..."

"Wyatt, Melinda now!" Chris commanded with haste and as soon as those words let out, he saw two bottles come out of thin air, heading straight towards the demon. He looked almost haughty as they came rushing, but that look quickly faded as the spider demon spun around and effortlessly deflected the potions and watched as they hit the walls, leaving a bluish liquid behind.

They. Were. Fucked.

"Now who should I have first ..." the demon cooed, her eyes flicking around. "How about the littlest Halliwell, hm?"

It didn't hesitate, her hand shot out and looked to grab air, but it was obvious to Chris that she had gotten hold of Melinda by the neck. He tried to move her with his telekinesis, but the demon reacted instantly by shoot a web from her hands and sent him flying back until his back collided with the wall. Letting out a groan, he tried to move, but he was firmly stuck in her webs as she sent another shot towards his brother who became visible as he hit the wall. He, too, was not stuck, leaving their little sister alone with a demon and powerless.

"Mel ..." he tried to get out, but he could barely speak, his eyes already fading in and out of reality.

_Someone help_, he thought.

"Don't worry, little one, it won't hurt," she laughed wickedly, and as she closed her eyes, she began the feeding process once again. Little moans escaped her parted lips while Melinda let out whimpers, her strength leaving her and the potion began to wear off bit by bit as more of her power was drained. Where was Dad? Where was Uncle Coop? Chris tried to call to them, but there was no reply. The place must be protected and he had just led his siblings into a trap.

Struggling against his bonds tiredly, he didn't seem the flash of red that had snuck up on him. Before he could comprehend the images in front of him, Chris met the hard cavern floor and was quickly helped up after that. Everything seemed to be happening quickly, leaving him in a daze as his brain still felt a little fuzzy with the impact of the wall moments ago, but as forced himself to focus, he was shocked towards what he saw. Besides the demon feeding on his sister, Chris could now clearly see a girl with a mess of red hair helping his brother.

_Don't say anything_, a thought passed in his mind, but it wasn't his.

The girl held an athame in her hand and swiftly tore through the webs that held his brother, leaving him to meet to floor as he just had. Helping Wyatt to his feet, she turned towards Chris, bring her finger to her lips. _She's distracted now. _came that little whisper.

Yes, but how are we going to vanquish her, he thought in return, his eyes flicked to the spider demon who still held his sister that was now passed out. It was distracted now, yes, but they had no more potion. It had all been splattered against the wall.

An image flashed inside his thoughts.

The spider demon throwing a web at them again. Them deflecting it with their telekinesis. Her hitting the wall where the potion had been thrown. Vanquished.

Blinking, Chris's eyes met Wyatt's who seemed to be slightly more awake now. He seemed to share the same thought as his brother, it might just work. Nodding , it was agreed, that's what they would do. "Hey, you think you could get rid of us that easily?" Chris declared. "You've got another thing coming."

The spider demon's eyes shot open and she released their sister, letting her fall to the floor. No more harm would come to her now. The red headed girl snuck away unnoticed by the demon who had her eyes set on the brothers, lips pulled up in a sneer. "You're going to be a pest, aren't you."

"You're one to talk," quipped Wyatt with a chuckle, using his telekinesis to throw a rock at her which she flicked away with a movement of her hands.

She hissed. "You will die."

"Yeah, just not today." Chris stated, smirking back at her. The demon let out a little shriek of annoyance and seemed to use all her might to shoot the biggest webs that she could conjure. And they were flying right towards them.

_Now_.

The brothers lifted their hands and in unison, reversed the webs course from them to her. The demon, startled, was unable to react and was caught in the traps of her own web that continued to fly across the cavern until it hit the wall. The wall where the potions had been. "No!" she screeched painfully, a firing igniting itself from within her body and claiming her to Hell. Chris and Wyatt watched with pride as the spider demon was vanquished, even giving each other a clap on the back, but reality quickly came back to them when they heard Melinda let out a pained tortured groan.

The red head was bent over her, her mess of hair falling over her face. The brothers didn't waste any time then to rush towards their injured sister. Wyatt placed a two fingers on her wrist. "She's alive, but she's weak. We need to get her back home so Dad can heal her."

Chris barely heard him, he was too busy staring at the girl before him. "Who are you?" she looked up, face unfamiliar to them.

"The girl who just saved your life." she drawled lowly, meeting his eyes with the same distrust that he felt. Chris frowned, unhappy with her answer. "How did you find us?" he interrogated furiously.

She didn't respond, simply brushed her fingers across his sister's forehead. He grabbed the girl's wrist, tightly. "Answer my question." he demanded, glaring.

"Your brother is right, she's weak and she needs healing." she confirmed, glancing down at the girl with a hint of worry.

"That doesn't answer my-"

Wyatt interrupted him firmly, "**_Chris_**."

The middle child looked up into the face of his older brother. Sometimes he seemed to forget what his position was, that he was the middle child and not the oldest. By Wiccan law, Wyatt was the leader, not him, but most of the time it was almost as if Chris was the leader instead. Except in moments like these when his brother took on the role.

"She needs healing," he insisted, then turned to look at the girl and added, "I hope you know that we're not leaving you. We have some questions we'd like to ask you. You're coming to the Manor with us."

The girl didn't say anything, just nodded and kept her lips pressed in a firm line. She avoided looking at any of them. Wyatt looked towards Chris, his eyes clearly asking the question his mind didn't and wearily, he agreed to it. With a nod of his head, his siblings were gone in a flurry of blue lights.

"Come on," Chris said gruffly, holding out his hand, but she merely looked at it with curiosity. "Look, I have to orb you back to the Manor and I can't do that unless you grab hold. So we can either do this the easy way or the hard way."

The red head looked up, eyes burning with fire. "You know, considering I just saved your family's life, you're an ass." but she took hold of his hand with her dainty, pale hand. Chris said nothing, both shocked and too busy orbing each other back to his home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**(A/N: It's not all that interesting, it's mainly the meeting between the family and the mysterious girl, but it was necessary. Another chapter will be posted soon! ~ Marie Michaels.)**

Melinda had been quickly handed off to their Dad who had just came home from a long day of teaching,. Piper panicked, it wasn't often that her children came home past out, especially now that their powers had developed. For a brief moment, it felt like things might be crumbling down, but it didn't take long for Leo to declare that she was okay and was simply asleep now. However, it didn't soothe anyone's mind to see that red headed girl wandering about in their living room, eyes flickering around with curiosity. Chris gave his parents a brief story of what happened and after the parents shared a look of concern, Piper insisted that Wyatt go get her sisters. He nodded, orbing out in a flurry of blue.

"You said she helped you?" Leo asked cautiously, keeping his voice down so she wouldn't hear, but it seemed she did. Her heard turned away from the vase she had been staring towards them. Chris didn't care if she heard or not, for all they knew, she could be a demon in disguise. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Yeah, she has an athame with her and when me and Wyatt were caught in the webs, she somehow got inside the cavern and cut us out. Then we killed the demon." Chris went over, his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "Doesn't mean anything, she could still be an enemy."

Piper didn't say anything at first, just watched the girl warily who was wandering around the room. She tried to freeze her once, but couldn't. She was no demon or if she was, she was a powerful one, but it seemed like witch was more likely than not. Her son was right though, they didn't know if she was an enemy. It wouldn't be the first time that someone tried to get close to them only to backstab them in the end. Pretty much literally, too.

"When Phoebe gets here, we'll see who she really is." Piper stated lowly, glancing at the girl again who seemed to focus on something else now, but they all had a feeling that the red head was listening in. And with the statement, the blue orbs began to materialize again, this time solidifying not only to revel Wyatt, but rest of the Charmed Ones, Paige and Phoebe.

"What's going on?" Phoebe asked, looking around worriedly. "Wyatt said something happened?"

Chris was about to comment, but Leo intervened instead. "It's nothing to be worried about now, Melinda got hurt on a demon hunt and this girl saved them," he gestured toward the girl and she took that as an invitation to finally join the conversation. Cautiously, she inched towards them.

"Well, that's very kind of you," Paige acknowledged, turning her head to stare at the family with a mix of annoyance and questioning. The girl snorted indignantly, leading all eyes to stare at her and her irritated look.

She pulled on the sleeves of her black sweatshirt, not looking away from any of their gazes. "You don't have to pretend to be kind, I know you don't trust me. That's why you," she gestured to Piper, "asked to bring her," then to Phoebe, "So she could see if I'm lying or not when you interrogated me."

The girls seemed to cock their heads, while the rest of the family continue to stare, but this time with different looks. Leo looked surprised while Wyatt looked almost impressed. Chris on the other hand, was a different story and still didn't trust the girl before them, his look was more of maddened as before. She didn't wait for anyone to say anything, but instead continued on with her accusation. "Which won't work, by the way."

"And why not?" the psychic asked, almost offended that her powers were being downsized once again. And without even waiting for her sisters say so, went ahead trying to probe the girl's emotions. It seemed almost to work before she was pushed out forcefully, causing a little gasp out of Phoebe.

The family turned to look at her, worriedly as if the girl had done something terribly evil, but the sister waved them off. "You're a telepath, aren't you?" Phoebe asked in wonderment. The red head nodded slowly, then turned her face away from them.

No one said anything, just stared at this mysterious child who seemed to distrust them as much as they distrusted her. Chris most of all. "How did you find us?" he questioned, eyes hard.

She looked up again. "You called **me**." she replied.

"No, I didn't." he shook his head. "I called my Dad, my Uncle, but not you."

"Maybe verbally, but your mind reached out, looking for help and I was close enough that I picked up on it. You called to me, whether you meant to or not." she explained warily.

Wyatt held up his hands, signaling for everyone to pause. "So wait, wait a minute. That voice I heard in the cavern, that was you?" he asked skeptically, but was still amazed. He had met very few telepaths in his life, even in the Magic School they were fairly rare. She nodded once again, while Chris looked between her and Wyatt, shocked. And here he had thought that it had been his own thought, his own plan, but it was in fact this young girl. A telepath, huh.

"What's your name?" Paige, the youngest Charmed One, asked gently, feeling a bit more compassion towards the girl. It didn't take an empath or telepath to see that she was uncomfortable, her body language explained it all as she slouched and pulled nervously on her clothes.

_Myra._

Her lips twitched. "That's a beautiful name, Myra."

Her sisters looked at the youngest witch, face filled with shock at the quiet exchange. Myra smiled softly, looking down at the floor. And while she was slowly earning the trust of Piper and Leo, Wyatt even, too, the rest of the family felt very wary still. "Myra, why won't you put down your shield?" Piper questioned suspiciously. "It would make things easier for us all to know that you're really telling the truth."

Myra pursed her lips. "Because I don't like having someone read my emotions or thoughts, just like I'm sure you don't." she negated, "They're my feelings. My thoughts. I am aloud to keep some secrets, thank you."

"You don't trust us, do you?" Phoebe asked next, trying to get some sort of read on her, but that seemed to be impractical at the moment. She shook her head, turning her dark eyes onto the middle sister. "Why?"

"I don't know you."

Chris guffawed. "And we don't know you either. For all we know, you could be our enemy. You won't let down your shield, you come out of nowhere in the cavern and say you were nearby, but we were in a cavern. In a forest! What were you doing in the middle of a forest."

Myra frowned. "I was looking for the Charmed Ones." The family seemed to exchange glances with each other. "Which I now know are you three," she nodded towards the trio, which they responded to with a nod.

"Why? Why were you looking for the Charmed Ones and why did you come for us instead," Chris continued on with his questions, earning a reprimanding look from his Mother which he ignored. The girl didn't say anything, she simply stared at the boy, exasperated. He was really trying her nerves as she was his.

She hesitated, looking at the faces before her before she answered, "I was looking for the Charmed Ones and I knew you had to be powerful, so I used my telepathy because it's the only way I know how. I was looking for the sisters, but I came upon you three instead. I didn't even know you were one of the Charmed Ones' kids until you brought me here."

"Why were looking for us, Myra?" Paige asked slowly, carefully. The red head looked uncomfortable then, shifting her stance and fidgeting with her clothes.

She didn't say anything, instead she kept her mouth shut in a firmly pressed. Instead of speaking, she showed them the extent of her powers with flashes of pictures. Men and woman attacking Myra in the dark night with weapons, her having to fend them off with only an athame to defend herself against guns and crossbows. The scene ended when she killed them and they didn't burn like demons did, but they bled instead. The family stood in silence, in horror at the image shown to them and had mixed feelings about it.

Myra was the first to speak, her voice soft and low that they strained to hear. It was not like before, it was weak and fragile, not at all like her defiant tone she had used earlier. "Witch hunters. They're planning something big. I-I don't know exactly what, but they're planning a War against all magical beings."

No one said anything, they tried to mull over the news just given to them. On one hand, they wanted to believe the girl, but on another, it seemed a bit too strange. She just happens to show up when the kids were at their most vulnerable? In the woods? She shows them pictures of her battling men and women that attacked her, but couldn't she manipulate their minds? Were those pictures even true? And most importantly, she was hiding things, refusing to let down her guard and that meant something suspicious for the Charmed Ones and their family. It was never a good thing when someone wasn't willing to share.

"You don't believe me." she said this lightly, as if she wasn't expecting anything else.

Wyatt stared sorrowfully at the girl, he wanted to believe her most out of them all. "It's just difficult with the circumstances." She nodded in agreement, her lips pulling up in a brief smile that she flashed towards him and only him.

The Charmed ones excused themselves from the room to talk by themselves, though they brought Leo along with them. That left the brothers and Myra by themselves, and while Wyatt smiled sweet at the girl as he does with everyone, Chris still felt anxious that she was going to harm his family in some way. It was possible, was it not? He knew quite a bit about telepaths. They could probe your mind without you realizing it, leaving you vulnerable. The last thing any of them needed was to be blindsided by a telepath, but at the moment, she paid no mind to Chris and instead turned her eye to the House again.

The look on her face was one of child-like awe that it was hard not to be at the least engaged in Myra. She wandered around in the living room, analyzing each picture with wonderment. "Who is this," she asked softly, brushing the glass with her petite fingers. It was a picture of a girl with thick black hair and green eyes. In fact, she reminded her a lot of the boy Chris with their looks and expressions.

"Prue Halliwell, she was one of the Charmed Ones before she died." Wyatt explained, moving closer to see. "You don't seem to know a lot about the Charmed Ones like most witches do."

"I know." was all she said.

"Why is that," Chris added, following behind his brother.

" ... I didn't find out I was a witch until about eight months ago. Most of my family had converted to conservative Christianity hundreds of years ago, witchcraft was a dead art in my family." she informed them with a shrug of her shoulders, but something in her tone showed how saddened she was about.

Wyatt made a sound of sympathy, placing his large hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. She stiffened at the contact, but gradually began to relax. "Thank you," she patted his hand with her dainty hand, looking up at him with a kind expression. "What are they talking about?"

"Can't you just read their minds?" the middle child retorted, crossing his arms and leaned against the wall. Myra's look of benevolence towards the eldest brother melted off, leaving behind the contempt he felt towards her, too. She didn't respond, it seemed she was going to take the silent approach.

And you expect us to believe you, he thought and it must have reached Myra fore she snapped her gaze onto him, lips pulled up in mid sneer which made him feel a bit prideful. His brother on the other hand gave him a reprimanding look that oddly seemed like their Mother's.

It wasn't moments later did the Charmed Ones plus Leo return from their little meeting, but in their Mother's hands was the most cherished thing they owned, the Book of Shadows. Clearing her throat, she announced softly, "This is our Book of Shadows." Myra turned around, her large blinking eyes confused.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what that is." she explained, cocking her head to the side. Wyatt then interrupted, clarifying, "She just learned she was a witch less than a year ago. That's why she thought we were the Charmed Ones, too."

Paige smiled understandingly, "A Book of Shadows is just a book that contains a family's spells and potions, it's passed down through the generations and this one is ours." She motioned toward the large, leather-bound book in her sister's hands. "It's protected from evil, only those with good intentions can touch the book."

"So it's a test," the girl thought aloud. The sisters nodded, Piper holding out the book a little bit more, allowing the red head to come closer. And she did, cautiously and everyone stood still, waiting to see what'd happen. Extending out a hand tentatively, Myra lightly tapped the book and immediately pulled back a bit afterwards.

_It's almost as if she doesn't trust herself_, Chris thought, watching the scene unfold before him with inquisitive looks. It wouldn't be the first time someone gotten past the barriers. He had heard the stories of Billie, how she had switched sides as soon as her sister was back. Of course, she was good now, but at the time she had been intent on killing his family.

Realizing that the book was no harm to her, she reached out again with a bit more confidence and firmly pressed her small hand on the cover. It didn't shock her, it didn't try to escape, it let her touch it and continue to. Myra looked around the room, unsure, "Is that good?" Paige nodded happily. She was the only one that wanted to trust her when it came to the Power of Three, Phoebe and especially Piper were still guarded against her. Some things just didn't add up. For one thing, Witch Hunters were meant to be nearly extinct, not plotting a whole war.

"Myra, we have some questions to ask you about your warning." Phoebe revealed and then added as an afterthought, "And about you, too, if you will."

Myra looked up. "Of course."

Piper turned to her sons, "Go check on your sister." Wyatt nodded and began to head up stairs, but Chris felt uneasy leaving his family alone with this mystery. He glanced at his Mom, but her face was set. There would be no staying behind with them all, so he swiftly followed his brother up the stairs, but not without a last look towards them all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**(A/N: This is quite a bit of backstory for Myra and conversation, as well as some good insight on how I feel the family interacted with one another [mostly the children, I mean]. Enjoy! ~ Marie Michaels)**

"Wait, so someone saved us?"

Melinda was awake and feeling better after the healing potion, and a nap, too, but as she listened to Chris's story of what went down, she felt a little light headed again. Her brothers nodded in synch, waiting for her cue to let them continue. As they were speaking, their family was downstairs talking to the mysterious girl that had suddenly popped up in their lives. It'd be interesting to see how it would play considering many things: one, she wouldn't let down her guard and two, if she'd be considered an innocent or not. Chis hoped that she wouldn't be, he didn't trust her a bit, unlike his giddy brother who thought she was an interesting case. "Yes," he exasperated, using his forefingers to rub his temples.

"Just as we got hit by the demon's webs and we were stuck on the cave's walls, the girl comes rushing in and tears through the webs, even devises a plan that she mentally sends us," Wyatt continued on matter of factly, a large and goody grin filling his face. Despite being the eldest, he was a child at heart and thought that the telepath was interesting, sweet even.

Their sister mulls over the information some more before saying, "Is she cute?" And as one brother answered yes and the other no (as if that wasn't easy to figure out), she let out a playful laugh and ripped off the sheets that kept her prisoner, jumping off the bed with little effort. "I wanna see her!" she declared, moving towards the door with determination.

Chris blocked her path, frowning. "We don't know who she is, she could be dangerous." Melinda placed her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed.

"She saved my life and yours, too."

There was a brief hesitation before he negated, "Yeah, but why? She could be after the family, she refuses to put down her psychic guard. We don't know if she's telling the truth or not, if she's evil or not." And as an afterthought, he added, "Plus, Mom said to stay up here."

"Oh and like you do everything that Mom says!" his sister teased mockingly, pushing him away gently. "I want to hear what they're talking about anyways. It had to be pretty interesting if they're keeping us in here, right? Now lets go!"

Melinda grabbed onto both of her brothers' hands, tugging them out of the room and though Wyatt came willingly, Chris dragged himself behind. She was always the little spitfire in the family, the one that got into the most trouble. Maybe it was a younger sibling thing, maybe it was just her genetics, but there was no arguing with her once she set her mind to something and she wanted to see this girl. Okay, a part of Chris did, too, but for entirely different reasons. Suspect until proven guilty, he thought.

"... understand why we have to ask these questions?" their mother's voice came softly as her three peeking children carefully tip toped down the steps, making sure not to make a sound. They couldn't see anything, they were in the dining room around the corner, but they could hear now.

There was a moment of hesitation in the answer, "I'd guess it'd be because you've been betrayed before."

Chris didn't realize it when he had first met her, but she had an accent, a slight twang and briefly wondered where she was from. "Guess or know?" now it was Phoebe's voice, gentle but firm.

"... I can't always control it." Myra admitted and they assumed she was talking about her powers. "If I keep my guard up, I can usually succeed for awhile, but some thoughts are just very loud that they pierce through and I pick up on them."

There was a shuffling of feet and Leo's still elderly voice said, "My son mentioned that you didn't find out you were a witch until recently."

"Witchcraft is about dead in my family. They converted to conservative christians hundreds of years ago, I'm one of the first few witches to be born in our family. As far as I know, my family doesn't have a book of shadows or pendants like you were saying earlier. Just this," she drawled, then there was a clank against some wood.

"An athame." There was no response.

"Where did you get it, Myra?" Paige's voice was the kindest out of all of them, it must be the white lighter in her and the bond of not knowing who she really was that made her want to sympathsize with the child.

There was mutter, but Chris couldn't hear it and apparently neither could anyone else because she was asked to repeat what she said. "My mom." she said more loudly, but also with more weariness. Chris furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why this seem to be a sore subject for her. Unless her parents are dead, of course, then that might explain her reluctance.

"... what's your family's name?"

"The Drakes."

"Dragons," Leo added thoughtfully.

"Yes." she said simply.

There was some silence, he figured they were wondering what to ask next. "Myra, would you mind telling us about how you came into your powers?" Phoebe asked, her tone curious. "I'm just wondering how you didn't know earlier that you were a witch."

"... I wasn't always telepathic, I started off as an empath. I don't know when that began, I just always sort of felt people's emotions, their pain, all of it and it grew overtime. I didn't think it to be anything but good reading of body language, that's what my family always thought, too."

"But?"

"But then it continued to grow until just about 8 months, it developed into telepathy. And it was around then that the murders in my town began to occur, too." she continued.

Hesitation, "Murders?"

Chris could already imagine her nodding, slowly, her mess of red hair falling in her face and over her fair, pale skin, dark eyes. "Yeah. We thought nothing of it, it wasn't uncommon for gangs to be around in Atlanta."Atlanta? Georgia? "That's what everyone thought, but my Mom got really ... fidgety. She demanded that I always have someone with me, I had to have a curfew, and anytime I brought home a friend, they were interrogated by her. It was like she was afraid I was going to get kidnapped or something."

"Your Mother, was she a witch?"

"... I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I don't know. I guess she was a practitioner, but I'm not sure if she had any real powers. I know she liked to play around with tarot cards a lot, crystals and herbs, and she was a firm believer in ghosts and demons, but she always sort of kept me away from that. She'd always tell me in my own time, I didn't think anything of it until the witch hunters came."

Myra took a deep breath. "There weren't a lot of them, only two and they came with guns. I think ... I think she was expecting them and she told my Dad. Me and her, we were hidden while he went out and confronted him. There were blasts, from the guns, and someone falling. My dad had killed them."

"... the next day we moved." she sighed. "We didn't talk about what had happened, we just took all that we could and left in our car that next morning, early. We ended up in a small town. Like, really small. The technology was out of date, no security systems anywhere, and a little police station. I guess it was the best place to hide if you're hiding from something. I was given new rules, too, and I didn't go to school. Instead, I was homeschooled by my parents."

"For awhile, everything was peaceful again. All that had happened seemed like a distant dream. I made a few new friends, I was homeschooled, everything was nice. Then the murders began to happen again and my parents got worried again. I remember one night when they thought I was asleep, they were talking. I heard them say something about my powers, I had mentioned to them earlier that I kept hearing these strange voices in my head, and then they said something about hunters. It was then my Mother said that we had to leave and by we, she meant me and my Father. She insisted that she stay behind, that she'd be safe."

"So we left, never heard from her again, though my Dad told me that she was alright. And it was then that he told me everything: about who I was, my powers, the people after us. That was just about two months ago."

"Your Dad, was he ...?" Paige trailed off.

"No. Just a man good with a gun and sword. He tried helping me with my ... powers, but all he did was get me some books about telepathy and things like that. Cheap books, you know, and some of the, uh, techniques worked, others were just complete hoaxes."

"We never stayed in one place for too long, my Dad was afraid they were after me. I don't know if they are, they might be because they know I know something. I'd been around the hunters long enough to pick up some things, so we spent the next month moving from place to place, never more than week. Until one night, my Dad came to me and said that we'd have to split up, that I had to do something."

"Tell us about the hunters," Piper stated. There must have been a nod, because Myra did not answer afterwards. "And then what happened?"

"He just told me that there was a powerful coven of witches that could help, the Charmed Ones. He said I had to be the one to tell you, that because of my powers, you'd be more likely to believe me than just some mortal. He said I had to warn you, that you lived in San Francisco and I had to find you. So, I did."

"And?" Phoebe prodded.

"And what?" Myra scoffed to herself. "That's that, I did what I was told to do, warned you guys. What you do with the information is completely up to ya'll."

"Myra, if what you've said is true, then you could still be in danger from these hunters. You just can't leave." Leo tried to explain, but the sound of a chair move on the hardwood floor gave way to the girl to sit up, furiously from what they heard. The siblings shared a look of concern, going down the steps a little bit farther in case they were needed.

Not that they were needed, "Your Father sent you to us for a reason, to help and to help, we need you still. You may have defeated some Hunters on your way here, but they'll keep coming after you. At least with us you have the protection of the family and we can figure out how to take those Hunters down." their Mother's commanding voice indicated.

"But my Father-" Myra tried to say, but was quickly cut off by Piper's stern, motherly voice and finished the child's sentence, "Will be alright. He's just human. They want to hurt witches, you. Not him.'

"Piper, what are suggesting?" Phoebe asked carefully.

"I'm suggesting that Myra lives with us until the threat is disposed of."

Myra gave a mix of a cough and laugh of disbelief, "What?"

"Not that it'll be free and that we trust you fully yet, but I see no other option. We can't just let you go back in the streets, wandering. If you're an innocent, you could die, but if you're demon or evil, we're letting you back in the world to hurt others."

"I'm not a demon," she piped up.

Piper ignored the comment and continued, "You'll stay with us until we figure things out. You can sleep in my daughter's bedroom with her, we'll set up a makeshift bed for you in there. You won't be allowed to be alone either. Someone will have to be with you at all times, you'll have to work at my club with me, but you'll be given a paycheck. How does that sound?"

"Do I have a choice?" Myra retorted, then sighed.

"Not really, no."

"Then it sounds oh so lovely."

Melinda clapped her hands together excitedly, jumping up from the step and already sprinting towards the dining room. Both the brothers tried to reach out, pull her back and clamp her mouth shut, but she was too tiny and quick for them to grab a hold. They would undoubtedly get a reprimanding about letting their sister out of bed when she had just had her energy drained by a demon. Instead of running back upstairs, the brothers look at each other briefly.

Wyatt's face was joyful, he was happy that she would be staying with the family, but as usual, Chris simply couldn't shake the feeling that she was hiding something from them all and he wouldn't trust her until he knew exactly what that was. Jumping up much like his sister had, the eldest brother follow ed the trail into the living, and reluctantly, Chris followed behind, too.

Their sister had pushed ahead of the adults to talk to her new room, who happened to look like a startled deer with her large, doe eyes. Melinda was something to get used to, she was quite the spunky one. Spunky and quick witted. As she began to ramble about this and that, those girly things that the boys didn't care about, she grabbed Myra's hands in her own and began to rock back and forth excitedly. "You'll love it here!" she declared assuredly, glancing over the girl's outfit. "Of course you'll need some new clothes, I presume. These are filthy."

Which was true. Her sweatshirt had holes in the sleeves and was covered in old mud, broken up leaves that stuck. The jeans she wore looked way too big for her petite size, and he was proven right when he saw the belt that kept them up. She was quite a mess.

"I don't have money at the moment." Myra tried to explain or persuade. The look on her face was comical to Chris, who smirked at the girl's obvious discomfort. It was instant, the red head (her hair also contain dirt and leaves) turned to him and glared.

Melinda shrugged as if this made no difference. "You look about my size, I'm sure you'll fit in something. And once you earn your first paycheck, me and my cousins take you shopping!" She must have sensed there was no way out fore she only nodded.

"Chris," his Mother called quietly to him, gesturing him over. He inched closer to her, leaning down when she asked him to. "I want you to keep a close eye on her, okay?" she whispered very softly. He nodded, showing that he understood and he took some relief to know that his Mother must have felt the same way as him, unsure of what they were getting into.

He glanced towards the girl who tried to pay attention to the brunette in front of her, but instead her eyes kept lingering on him. She had saw, she had heard, and she was not happy about it either. Chris, being the sarcastic and mocking man he was, waved, his lips pulling up into a smirk.


End file.
